Lubbock attorney drops out of District 83 contention as party leaders prepare for choice

Adkins said he was uncomfortable with third-party information he was asked to disclose

AUSTIN — Anytime now, Republican Party officials from the seven counties Texas House District 83 represents should choose the replacement for state Rep. Charles Perry on the Nov. 4 ballot.

Perry, R-Lubbock, removed his name from the House race to run for the open Texas Senate District 28 seat Texas Tech Chancellor Robert Duncan occupied for 18 years.

“We’re hoping to do it by Thursday evening,” Brad Moore, chairman of the Terry County Republican Party and chair of the selection process, said Wednesday.

Lubbock County GOP official Jane Cansino said party officials from the seven counties HD 83 represents — about 40 percent of Lubbock County’s population and all of Borden, Gaines, Lynn, Mitchell, Scurry and Terry counties — want to make sure each of the five hopefuls for the seat receives careful consideration.

“Right now there are no favorites,” Cansino said late last week.

Party officials were considering six hopefuls but now it is five because Lubbock businessman and attorney Allen Adkins informed them Wednesday morning he no longer wishes to be considered.

If Cansino, Moore and the other five GOP officials are being extra careful, you can’t blame them, other Republican leaders said.

They know the significance of their decision and want to avoid what usually happens during rare times when party officials — not the voters in the spring primaries — choose candidates for the general election: Jockeying, infighting and long-lasting bitterness.

That happened in West Texas in 1996 after then-Rep. Duncan withdrew his name from the ballot in neighboring House District 84 to run for the open Senate seat he went on to win.

Republican officials in the district chose Lubbock accountant Carl Isett in a process that — according to stories the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal published at the time — triggered internal turmoil.

This could have also happened in San Antonio this year, too, but Democratic state Rep. Mike Villarreal — who has announced his candidacy for mayor next year — decided to keep his name on the Nov. 4 ballot. Villarreal, who didn’t like the jockeying for his seat he was seeing, argued the voters in House District 123, not 65 Democratic precinct chairmen, should choose his successor in the predominantly blue district.

GOP officials in HD 83 want to avoid what happened in Lubbock 18 years ago and what was likely to happen in San Antonio this year if Villarreal had removed his name from the Nov. 4 ballot.

In addition, since HD 83 is one of the reddest in the state, the GOP nominee will be heavily favored to win in November.

So far, it seems like the seven Republican officials who will choose Perry’s replacement on the Nov. 4 ballot are succeeding, Lubbock County Republican Party Chairman Carl Tepper said.

“I am very proud of them,” Tepper said. “They are doing this very diligently because they want to choose the best possible nominee.”

The candidates

Adkins said the process prompted him to withdraw his name.

“They sent a detailed questionnaire and I disclosed important third-party information and as an attorney I am very leery of that,” Adkins said. “So, I felt it was best that I do not run this time but I hope to do that in the future.”

The remaining GOP hopefuls — all from Lubbock — are former party precinct chairman Dustin Burrows, former state Rep. Delwin Jones, former Lubbock Independent School District Board of Trustees President Steve Massengale, veterinarian John Key and conservative activist Sondra Ziegler.

The Texas Democratic Party, which has not had a candidate in HD 83 since 2006, gets another chance and Lubbock County Democratic Party Chairman Kenny Ketner said this time his party will have a candidate.

“We are working on that because we know there is not much time left,” Ketner said in reference to the Monday deadline for all political parties to choose their nominees.

For Democrats, it will be the same process their Republican counterparts are following: Party officials from the seven counties HD 83 represents will choose a nominee.

Tepper said he is happy for Cansino, Moore and the GOP officials from the other five counties HD 83 represents for another reason: They have the rare opportunity of playing a major role in the election of a state representative.

“They are being rewarded for their hard work,” Tepper said. “Political parties often have difficulty recruiting volunteers and people like Jane and Brad is what makes our party successful.”

As chairman of his party in Lubbock County, Tepper would have been the logical choice to represent the county in picking Perry’s successor. But Cansino was chosen because she lives in HD 83 and Tepper doesn’t.

Tepper lives in neighboring HD 84 which Rep. John Frullo, also a Lubbock Republican, represents.

“There were 22 precinct chairs, 18 were eligible to vote on this process and she won 15-3,” Tepper said of Cansino. “People love her because she has a good way in dealing with people and she keeps a very good focus on what she does.”

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